Dauntless - an AOS Divergent AU
by SonicTeamFreeWill
Summary: Leopold Fitz, a transfer from Abnegation, faces his first Initiation challenge, and is surprised by a little help from Dauntless born and bred cadet Grant Ward. An AOS Divergent!AU - preview/test for a bigger project.


**AN ~ Welcome to the first experimental preview-y thing of my Agents of SHIELD Divergent!AU. I'm looking at writing a full-blown AU fic for Camp Nano(wrimo) but I wrote this for tumblr/as inspiration after having sorted a bunch of characters into their Factions. What do you think of a Divergent!AU? Would you like to see one? what would you like to see in it?**

He remembered how good it had felt when he'd heard that little drop of blood sizzle into the Dauntless flames. He'd waited so long to make this choice.

Staring down into the darkness, the atmosphere had been sucked away. What was breathing? How were his legs still holding him up? His head spun. He backed away from the edge.

_Stiff, _they muttered, laughing. He curled his fingers in the sleeves of his grey cardigan. Where his heart was, it felt like there was a gaping hole. Like it was sucking him in piece by piece. He was starting to wish it would hurry up. If he didn't jump soon, he'd wash out. If he did, he'd quite possibly break his neck.

A girl in a blue blazer gave him a hesitant smile as she stepped up to the edge. His heart came back for a moment, and he smiled. She nodded, encouraging, and then closed her eyes. Her whole body trembled as she felt – and probably assessed – the strength of the wind buffeting against her. Then she let herself fall into darkness.

Fitz ran after her without thinking. He stumbled to a halt at the edge again. His heart turned to stone. Gravel crunched in footsteps behind him.

"Three strikes, Stiff."

_Oh, Lord._ He swallowed hard. He forced his arms to his side and shuffled the last few inches to the very edge. Maybe if he stood there long enough the wind would just knock him and the decision would be made for him. He glanced back at the Dauntless waiting. Some of them watched with ridicule, others with respect, even concern. He wished he could remember how words worked. Not that he knew what he'd say. _This is the end. I'm going to be dead or Factionless in three – two –_

Someone threw a brick wall at his back. That's what it felt like, at least. And then he was falling. He felt the wind shoving at him. It was like swimming in porridge. He couldn't control his limbs. He could see a net racing up toward him, its big, heavy cords threatening to break almost as many bones as the floor.

_Roll._

He wasn't sure if it was his own head, or somebody else, but his limbs seemed to obey before his mind could finish thinking about it. The ropes cut and bruised him, but as he staggered away from the net, he felt nothing but relief.

One of the Dauntless leaders, an older woman with straight dark hair and matching eyes, put a hand against his shoulder to stop his directionless endorphin-fueled stagger.

"Well done," she said. "You had us worried for a minute there, Leopold."

"It's – ah – it's Fitz." He couldn't stop himself smiling. It felt so much _better. _And now his heart was back again, and racing. The Dauntless leader gave him a brief smile, before turning aside. Following her gaze, he turned to see the brick wall that must have hit him.

He had black hair, just a bit messy, like it was supposed to be like that. His shirt was a little too small – or maybe that was just by Abnegation standards, because it did an excellent job of showing off the muscled torso of its wearer, and Fitz rather liked that.

"What's your name, Cadet?" the Dauntless leader questioned.

"Grant Ward, ma'am." The brick wall nodded. He stood as straight as a rod, hands behind his back, chin strong.

"Did you know that helping another Initiate jump is against the rules?"

"It was a risk I was willing to take, ma'am."

The Dauntless leader pursed her lips. She scrutinised Ward's expression. Then she looked back at Fitz, who was still staring at his savior, with wide eyes and an increasingly loose jaw. He saw her looking, and hurried to compose himself, blushing furiously as Abnegations were wont to do.

"You both pass." She nodded them through to the next room.

Ward tried to catch Fitz' eye as they followed her direction, but the Abnegation initiate hid his face.


End file.
